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North Transvaal
The North Transvaal 'is the name of an area of northern Southern Africa. With its capital in Johannesburg . President Martin van Staden rules this nation with an iron fist with Jacob Mbeki at his right hand. History *Cape Colony (Parts Kingdom of Metz) *British (United Kingdom Islands) *Dutch (Nortern Europe) *German (Northern Europe) The North Transvaal was colonised by Boer settlers who left the British-dominated Cape Colony in the 1830s and 1840s in what came to be known as the Great Trek. The Great Trek was spurred on by discontent with British rule, the economic upheavals caused by anti slavery laws, lack of protection against raiding Xhosa bands, and Anglicisation of established Dutch traditions. Two years later the voortrekkers established the Orange Free State, (Now also in North Transvaal). Finally, the voortrekkers migrated further north and established a number of smaller republics across the Vaal river, North Transvaal, later to be united in the Armed Republic of North Tranvaal, or ARNT. The trekkers took advantage of the political vacuum left after the Zulu wars and their aftermath, and easily overcame the indigenous peoples. In the 1850s, the British came to an understanding with the Boer republic, recognising independence to the ARNT in what is now the North Transvaal. However, in 1877 Britain annexed the ARNT as a convenient way of resolving the border dispute between the Boers and the Zulus. This also saved the North Transvaal from financial ruin, as the government had completely run out of money. The Boer republic regained its independence in 1881 after the so-called First Boer War. Beginning in 1885, the discovery of a tremendous lode of gold in the Witwatersrand led to the immigration of many foreigners to the North Transvaal. In short time the economy of the North Transvaal boomed. The wealth of the North Transvaal state was bound to overcome the British controlled, Boer dominated Cape Colony, and it was speculated the Boers might eject the British from power in the region. Furthermore, the longer this new source of gold remained out of British control, the position of London as the centre of the world's gold trade was threatened. In these days of the international gold standard, this meant London's position as the world's financial centre in jeopardy, as well as its role as a listening station for Empire intelligence. Using the ARNT refusal to grant foreigners franchise as a pretext, the British therefore planned a takeover of North Transvaal, as a parallel to their seizure years prior of the former Orange Free State and the immense diamond fields of Kimberley (city which was in the unexplored area to the west of North Transvaal) therein. In 1895 foreign mine owners funded an attempted coup d'état known as The Jameson Raid. The financiers of the Raid were dissatisfied with the Boer's taxation and restrictions on business. The raid was an awakening for the Boers and led to massive armament, mainly from German suppliers. Increasing fear of British designs on the North Transvaal and the amassing of British forces on their borders led the Boers to make a preemptive strike in 1899. The Second Boer War lasted for three years. By the end of 1902 Britain employed 500,000 soldiers against a fighting force of approximately 64,000 Boers. Boer women and children were incarcerated in concentration camps and about 26,000 died of malnutrition, poor hygiene and disease. This demoralising blow, coupled with the British use of torched earth strategy and a blockade enforced through the entire North Transvaal forced the Boer military leaders into submission. A defeated North Transvaal was incorporated into the British Empire in 1902. The war also had immense effects on British policy domestically, within Europe and throughout the Empire. The Second Boer War made clear that the Empire was more vulnerable than assumed, and was, in many senses, a rehearsal for greater events that would come to pass twelve years later, in 1914. Apartheid In 1948, the National Party was elected to power. It intensified the implementation of racial segregation begun under Dutch and British colonial rule, and subsequent North Transvaal governments since the Armed Republic was formed. The Nationalist Government systematised existing segregationist laws, classifying all peoples into three races, developing rights and limitations for each, such as pass laws and residential restrictions. The white minority controlled the vastly larger black majority. The system of segregation became known collectively as ''apartheid. Not surprisingly, this segregation meant that whites controlled the wealth generated during rapid industrialisation of the 1950s, '60s, and '70s. While the White minority enjoyed the highest standard of living in all of the , often comparable to First World western nations, the Black majority remained disadvantaged by almost every standard, including income, education, housing, and life expectancy. On 31 May 1961, following a whites-only referendum, the country became a armed republic and left the (British) Commonwealth. The office of Governor-General was abolished and replaced with the position of President. Apartheid became increasingly controversial, leading to widespread international sanctions, divestment and growing unrest and oppression within North Transvaal. A long period of harsh suppression by the government, and at times violent resistance, strikes, marches, protests, and sabotage by bombing and other means, by various anti-apartheid movements, most notably the United Independant Congess (UIC), followed. In the late 1970s, North Transvaal began a programme of nuclear weapons development. In the following decade, it produced six deliverable nuclear weapons. Democracy In 1990 the National Party government took the first step towards dismantling discrimination when it lifted the ban on the United Independant Congess and other political organisations. It released Martin van Staden from prison after ten years' incarceration on a sabotage sentence. A negotiation process known as the Convention for a Equal North Transvaal was started. The government repealed apartheid legislation. North Transvaal destroyed its nuclear arsenal and acceded to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. North Transvaal held its first (and last) multi-racial elections in 1994, which the UIC won by an overwhelming majority. It has been in power ever since, and had made the country a dictatorship. In post-apartheid North Transvaal everything is looking up, everyone is begin treated equally and fair. North Transvaal has started a new nuclear weapons project and now has 15 nuke's in its arsenal. Government The Armed Republic of North Transvaal is a constitutional dictatorship with a three-tier system of government and an independent judiciary, operating in a nearly unique system that combines aspects of parlimentary and presidential systems. Legislative authority is held by the Parliament of North Transvaal. Executive authority is vested in the President of North Transvaal, who is head of state and head of government, and his Cabinet. North Transvaal's government differs greatly from those of other nations. The national, provincial and local levels of government all have legislative and executive authority in their own spheres, and are defined in the North Transvaal Constitution as "distinctive, interdependent and interrelated". Operating at both national and provincial levels are advisory bodies drawn from North Transvaal's traditional leaders. It is a stated intention in the Constitution that the country be run on a system of co-operative governance. The government is undertaken by three inter-connected arms of government: *Legislature: The National Assembly and the National Council of Provinces *Executive: The President, who is both Head of State and Head of Government *Judiciary: The Constitutional Court, the Supreme Court of Appeal, and the High Court All bodies of the North Transvaal government are subject to the rule of the Constitution, which is the supreme law in North Transvaal. Foreign Relations Main Article: ''Embassies in North Transvaal'' Since the end of apartheid, the North Transvaal foreign policy has focused on its African partners. North Transvaal has played a key role as a mediator in African conflicts over the last decade. After apartheid ended, North Transvaal was readmitted to the World Assembly. North Trasnvaal is currently a non-permanent member of the World Assembly Security Council. North Trasnvaal is a member of the Group of 77 and chaired the organisation in 2006. North Transvaal National Defence Force The '''NTNDF is the name of the armed forces of North Transvaal. The military as it exists today was created in 1994, following North Transvaal's first (and last) post-apartheid national elections and the adoption of a new constitution. It replaced the North Transvaal Defence Force (NTDF), and included personnel and equipment from the NTDF and the former homelands forces, as well as personnel from the former guerrilla forces of some of the political parties involved in North Transvaal, such as the United Independent Congress' Umkhonto we Sizwe, the Pan Africanist Congress' APLA and the Self-Protection Units of the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP). The NTNDF is subdivided into four branches, the Army, the Air Force, and the Military Health Service. As of 2004, the integration process was considered complete, with the integrated personnel having been incorporated into a slightly modified structure very similar to that of the NTDF, with the latter's structure and equipment for the most part being retained. Geography imghttp://images4.wikia.nocookie.net/nationstates/images/5/56/Unofficial_Map_of_NT.jpg/img North Transvaal lay between the Vaal Rivier in the south, and the Limpopo Rivier in the north, roughly between 22 1/2 and 27 1/2 S, and 25 and 32 E. To its south it borderes with the Kingdom of Metz, and to its west is the unexplored African landscape, and to its east is Ulgania. Several Bantustans were entirely inside the North Transvaal: Venda, KwaNdebele, Gazankulu, KaNgwane and Lebowa. Parts of Bophuthatswana were also in the North Transvaal. Within the North Transvaal lies the Waterberg Massif, a prominent ancient geological feature of the North Transvaal landscape. Cities in the North Transvaal: *Heidelberg *Johannesburg* *Vereeniging See Also *Johannesburg *United Independant Congress Category:North Transvaal Category:Former nations of significant size Category:2011 disestablishments